By Amanda Durish Cook

A former attorney in the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office will become the Organization of MISO States’ (OMS) new director of regulatory affairs.

Benjamin Sloan will join OMS beginning March 1. He most recently served as a special assistant attorney general in the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, where he tracked MISO and FERC issues. Sloan was also active in OMS discussions prior to being hired by the organization.

“I am very excited to have Ben join the team,” OMS Executive Director Marcus Hawkins said during a Feb. 11 OMS Board of Directors meeting in D.C. on the sidelines of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Winter Policy Summit.

Sloan will replace Hawkins, who was promoted to OMS executive director in December. (See OMS Names New Executive Director.)

“I am honored to have been trusted with this role and excited to help shape and coordinate the crucial voice of the State Regulatory [Authorities] sector within the MISO stakeholder process,” Sloan said in a release.

OMS touted Sloan’s legal and writing experience from his previous roles at the Mississippi Department of Human Services and the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program. Sloan earned a bachelor’s degree in English and political science from the University of Mississippi and a law degree from the university’s School of Law.

OMS-RSC Talks Continue

Meanwhile, OMS continues to work with SPP’s Regional State Committee on how to solve MISO and SPP’s seams issues. (See MISO, SPP Regulators Continue Seams Talks.) The two regulatory organizations met with FERC staff in closed session on Feb. 10 ahead of the NARUC meeting. Missouri Public Service Commissioner Daniel Hall said FERC staff offered useful information during the private meeting. “They are willing to be partners in this effort,” Hall told OMS board members on Feb. 11.

Hall said future meetings between OMS and SPP’s RSC will be open to the public.